Historical Knives

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Knives

The design and the materials used for these knives are based on evidence from archaeological finds.
I have tried to replicate this as faithfully as possible given the relatively limited information available.
The majority of finds had boxwood (known by medieval cutlers as dudgeon) handles, and to a lesser extent horn,
fruit wood or maple. Whittle tang knives are the commonest type found prior to the 15th century. Whittle tang
blades have a tapered tang and are fitted by pushing the blade tang into the handle. On later 15th century
scale tang knives the blade extends the full length of the handle, which is attached by rivets. Most of the
knife blades incorporated wrought iron and carbon steel. Wrought iron was used because it was cheaper and more
readily available (the complete opposite of today) but it cannot be hardened. The better quality knives were
either pattern welded (Damascus) or laminated.

Where sheath/scabbards are not listed with knives, they must be ordered at the same time as knifes as each
knife is unique and may vary slightly, therefore sheaths/scabbards are made to measure. Prices from £20-.00 all
sheaths/scabbards are entirely hand made using wet veg tanned leather.

Hudson Bay or Buffalo Knife

Price--- £165-00

19th Century Kitchen Knives

Selection of authentic 19thcent Kitchen knives made for a major US film company for upcoming Victorian movie.

Yew Eating Knife

Yew Knife with Scabbard

Yew handled eating knife as above in Scabbard

Scabbard made from 2mm thick veg tanned calf skin.
In 1350 it was forbidden by the Guild of Furbishers to use any other material for sheaths.
Hand stitched down the back with 4 suspension slots and thongs. Knife to hang vertically. £60-00

Bollock Knives and Dirks

The bollock dagger or ballock knife is a type of dagger with a distinctively shaped shaft, with two oval swellings at the guard resembling male genitalia ("bollocks"). The guard is often in one piece with the wooden grip, and reinforced on top with a shaped metal washer. The dagger was popular in Flanders, England and Scotland between the 13th and 18th centuries, and in particular the Tudor period. It was commonly carried by many Border Reivers, as a backup for the lance and the sword. A large number of such weapons were found aboard the wreck of the Mary Rose. In use, the bollock dagger was similar to the Scottish Dirk.
In the Victorian period weapon historians introduced the term kidney dagger, due to the two lobes at the guard, which could also be seen as kidney-shaped, in order to avoid sexual connotations. (Blair 1962).

The hilt was often constructed of Boxwood (dudgeon) in the 16th and 17th centuries, and the dagger was sometimes called dudgeon dagger or dudgeonhafted dagger in this period.

The bollock dagger is the source of the expression, to get, or give, a "bollocking", meaning to give or receive a severe chastisement.